Brunswick Hills residents express concerns over new code enforcement officer division

BRUNSWICK HILLS TWP. — Brunswick Hills residents filled town hall Tuesday to share their concerns regarding a newly created code enforcement division, which takes on responsibilities from both the fire and zoning departments. The Brunswick Hills Board of Trustees previously held a special meeting in which they voted to establish a code enforcement division. Brunswick Hills Fire Chief Anthony Strazzo said currently, the zoning inspector and fire prevention officer each are staffed for around 20 hours a week. The new division will instead have someone working throughout the day Monday through Friday who can assist residents with both zoning and fire prevention. "The thought process is that, fiscally, it's a responsible thing to do …" he said. "We have an aging community with limited resources, and I think we can all agree on that, right? Nobody wants to see their taxes go up, but we have a demand for services." Trustee Ryan Nixon said the new division will give business owners a single point of contact to meet all their needs. "We want to be a customer service, professional zoning department where we can take a resident or a business that comes in, provide them the proper guidance to get things done, to make the community better," Strazzo said. "That is the goal of this new structure." The township met with the code enforcement officer from Hamilton County, and the officer stated the position has yielded good results, Strazzo said. No other township in Medina County has done something like this. "That's not the correct way to look at it," Zoning Commission member Thomas DeCastra said. "You've got to look at the community that will be developing around you, not some on literally the other side of the state." The division came about after the recent retirement of Zoning Inspector Evelyn Czyz, Nixon said. The two new positions of code enforcement officer and assistant code enforcement officer have been offered internally to people who already work for the township. "We are already doing our community a disservice by not publicly posting this and looking for the best candidate that is publicly available within our community to fulfill all of the roles and responsibilities that this position would have," DeCastra said. Many residents expressed concern for giving the fire department the extra responsibility of zoning and said they prefer keeping the zoning inspector position instead. "Just as a point of clarification, none of our firefighters are going to be inspectors for zoning," Strazzo said. "That's not the position at all, so let's be very clear that the fellows that arrive on your ambulance or on your fire trucks are not going to be conducting zoning work at all." Christina Kusnerak said as a trustee for nearly 20 years, she thinks the new division is not right for the township. Instead, she believes any issues with the zoning department need to be addressed within the department. "I did not vote to approve this," she said. "I'm just as baffled as you." On the other hand, former Fiscal Officer Katherine Esber said she feels as if the zoning department has been lacking for years, and she welcomes the new division to Brunswick Hills. "I think it's a positive direction for the township," she said. "My taxpayer dollars, I think, will be well spent on a new position." The code enforcement division will have a trial period. Nixon said it is too early to speak on whether the division could be eliminated in the future. Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.